Evening Player Notes in the Playoffs (Apr 30)

It was a great start to the series between the St. Louis Blues and the Dallas Stars and it was the Stars that came out ahead, making good use of their home-ice advantage, taking a 2-1 victory in this one.

This one wasn't quite as good of a game for the hockey pool, as one team had the winning goalie in this one, Kari Lehtonen made 31 saves for the victory and the 2 points, as his team won the track meet in front of him.  The Stars outshot the Blues, 42-32, which means there should be some more goals later on in this series.

Did anyone really know what we were to expect out of this series between the Nashville Predators and the San Jose Sharks?  The Sharks were a pretty good question mark, moving into the second round and their opponent is still a little bit of a mystery, as they've moved past the opening round.  The Sharks flexed their scoring muscle on Friday night, taking Game 1, 5-2, and this game was actually good for a number of teams in the hockey pool.

Sure, this series doesn't have a lot of picks in the pool, but those who banked on the Sharks got a nice push.  Logan Couture scored a pair, including the winner, while Joel Ward had a goal and an assist, Brent Burns had a couple of assists and Martin Jones made 29 saves for the win.  Everyone on the list has at least a couple picks each.

In the afternoon game on Saturday, the Tampa Bay Lightning evened up the series with the New York Islanders, thanks to a solid effort from the drop of the puck from their offensive stars.

Tyler Johnson got back on the board with a couple of goals and an assist, registering a 3-point night for the... zero teams that picked him in the pool.  Another disappointing note for the pool, Jonathan Drouin, who wasn't even on the sheet, finished with a goal and an assist.  Maybe next year.

There was only one player taken in the pool to register a multiple point game... defenseman Victor Hedman, taken nine times, had a goal and an assist.